Budget 2016: Markets give thumbs down; Nifty closes below 7,000

The Sensex and Nifty had gained last year.

The stock markets gave a thumbs down to the Budget 2016-2017, with both the benchmark indices ending the day with losses after witnessing a lot of volatility during the day trade. The Sensex dropped 152 points to close at 23,002, while the NSE Nifty slipped below the psychological mark of 7,000 to settle at 6,987 points, down 42 points.

Last year, after the presentation of the budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Sensex rose 141 points after a wild swing of about 700 points during the intraday and settled at 29,361, while the NSE Nifty had ended the day at 8,901, up 57 points.

On Monday, ONGC was the biggest Sensex loser that ended 9.72 percent lower to close at Rs 194, followed by Maruti Suzuki, which closed with a loss of 4.88 percent at Rs 3,242.60.

BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and Axis Bank were the other top losers.

On the Nifty, the gainers were ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ITC.

The Sensex plunged below the 23,000-mark during the day but trimmed losses to close just above the psychological mark.

The Narendra Modi government has presented three budgets till now in its tenure and on two occasions the markets have given the budgets a thumbs down, notwithstanding the perception of the prime minister as a business-friendly politician among investors.

A slew of new taxes on cars and cigarettes, coupled with a no increase in tax exemption limit for the salaried class, left many investors disappointed.